ST. LOUIS, Mo. --- The Tusculum University men's volleyball team is set to play in its fifth Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (IVA) Championship this weekend (Apr. 18-19), hosted by Maryville University. The Pioneers are seeded third and will face No. 6 Missouri S&T at 9 p.m. (EDT) on Friday.
Due to an unbalanced schedule, this year's tournament seeding was determined by KPI. KPI is summarized as a "visual snapshot" of a team's resume, using results-bases and predictive metrics. KPI ranks every team's wins and losses on a positive-to-negative scale, where the worst-possible loss receives a value of roughly around -1.0 and the best-possible win receives a value of roughly 1.0. KPI then averages these scores across a season to give a score to a team's winning percentage. The formula uses the opponent's winning percentage, opponent's strength of schedule, scoring margin, pace of game, location, and opponent's KPI ranking.
Going for its seventh-straight IVA title is top-seed Lincoln Memorial. The Railsplitters are 16th in the national polls with a 21-1 overall record. Host Maryville is seeded second with a 17-8 mark, followed by Tusculum at No. 3 with a 15-12 record. The No. 4 seed is Catawba at 13-11 and fifth is Rockhurst at 18-10. Missouri S&T (10-13), Barry (10-13), Thomas More (7-14), and Roosevelt (5-16) round out the nine-team tournament.
RECAPPING THE SEASON
Tusculum (15-12) has the most wins for a season in program history in Alberto Chiaparini's first year at the helm. The Pioneers hosted Catawba and Thomas More to end the regular season last weekend (Ar. 11-12).
Deklan Wingo broke a pair of program records in the two matches, kills in a match (31) and career service aces (92). On the weekend, Wingo totaled 52 kills, six aces, 14 digs, and five blocks. Morgan Makovec and Joel Dubinsky had similar stints with 19 and 20 kills, respectively. They both recorded eight total blocks and multiple aces. Defensively, Caleb Hammann was credited with 12 total blocks and Kevin Blankenship tallied 20 digs. The latter also dished out 83 assists on a 9.22 per set rate.
On the season, Wingo has landed 493 kills (4.98 per set) on a .344 hitting clip. Dubinsky and Makovec are neck-and-neck with 194 and 193, respectively. Blankenship leads the setters with 564 assists on a 7.52 per set average. Wingo (38) and Makovec (33) head up the ace category, while four Pioneers have reached the 100-dig mark: Wingo (157), Taylor West (131), Dubinsky (110), and Blankenship (100). Aiden Roper is just shy at 99 for the season. At the net, Makovec is nearing the triple-digit level at 89 blocks (23 solo, 66 assists), which is already a new single-season record.
Nationally, Tusculum is 25th in opponent hitting percentage at .240. Individually, Wingo leads the nation in kills per set and points per set (5.72) and is second with 10.04 attacks per set. Makovec is fifth in hitting percentage with an average of .476, while Wingo is 24th.
LOOKING AHEAD
Missouri S&T and Tusculum have never faced one another and will meet for the first time at the IVAs. The Miners are ranked 13th nationally in both digs per set (9.53) and attacks per set (28.23). Individually, Tyler Johnwick is sixth in hitting percentage (.455) and Bartosz Chmielewski is 19th in digs per set (2.22). Nate Meyer leads the team with 241 kills on a .269 clip, while Grant Edmonds has recorded 598 assists. Meyer also has a team-high 24 aces. Defensively, Chmielewski has 164 digs and Johnwick is credited with 67 total blocks.
Links to live stats and video for Tusculum University athletic events can be found through tusculumpioneers.com.
2025 IVA Men's Volleyball Championship (hosted by Maryville University)
Friday, April 18th:
Match #1: No. 8 seed Thomas More vs. No. 9 seed Roosevelt, 11 AM
Match #2: No. 4 seed Catawba vs. No. 5 seed Rockhurst, 1:30 PM
Match #3: Match #1 winner vs. No. 1 seed Lincoln Memorial, 4 PM
Match #4: No. 2 seed Maryville vs. No. 7 seed Barry, 6:30 PM
Match #5: No. 3 seed Tusculum vs. No. 6 seed Missouri S&T, 9 PM
Saturday, April 19th:
Match #6: Match #3 winner vs. Match #2 winner, 11 AM (semifinal)
Match #7: Match #4 winner vs. Match #5 winner, 2 PM (semifinal)
Match #8: Match #6 winner vs. Match #7 winner, 6 PM (championship)
*Times listed as Eastern
